"Attack"
"Talking"
'Thinking'
Team Alpha's station:
Piccolo never thought a day like this would come.
It's finally quiet all throughout the desert canyons. Except for the wind, there is nothing making a sound and that is exactly how Piccolo likes it. When everything is silent, and there no people around, it makes this place perfect for meditation. It's a valuable time for Piccolo. A part of his ever-continuing training. That is why he never skips it, except when there's a threat that needs to be taken care of, like the war, but even then, Piccolo always takes time out to find a nice quiet place to meditate.
This opportunity came at just the right time. There hasn't been any new missions or operations from Jump Force for days now. In fact, the Namekian hasn't heard anything from the director ever since Nelson's first mission, a week ago. It's probably for the best anyways. The last time they talked, it turned into an interrogation. Nelson clearly wasn't ready for that mission, but the director still sent him on it. Thinking about it still makes him mad. He was brought on to be Nelson's instructor and train him to control his power and get stronger. So, it should be obvious that he's the only one that has the right to say whether he's ready!
The thought almost made him break his posture. He tries to ignore it, but what the director said after that other guy left, was hard to ignore completely. Despite his calm body language, his brow still twitches because of it. Usually, he would be floating, but today even with this calm scenery he couldn't pull it off.
'This is really bothering me!' Piccolo thought. 'What the director said came as a surprise, sure. But still, I never thought I would be so bothered by it.' Knowing that this would likely ruin his perfect meditation time, he replayed the whole conversation from a week ago.
Flashback:
Everyone is standing in the director's office, slowly digesting what was revealed. The fact that their base has been losing members faster than they can recruit them, didn't sit right with many of them. Trunks, despite his time in a war-torn timeline, still felt helpless at the news. Kakashi on the other hand, even though he does feel sad, didn't look effected at all. As a shinobi, his entire life was marked by death. Even the most straight forward, easy mission can turn deadly when someone is caught off guard. However, what really caught his attention was when the director said, some vanished, which could mean a lot of things. That their bodies were damaged so much that they couldn't leave anything behind or they went rogue. Either way, it could mean trouble in the long run, if not handled correctly.
Piccolo, however, did not care about the numbers on the screen or the fact that Nelson's friend was given a strange fruit. As if something that small could make anyone stronger any way. The only thing that mattered is what the director was thinking when he sent Nelson on that mission.
Then Trunks voice broke through the silence. "But director, I still don't see why you gave Jason that fruit. I mean I heard from the others what those things do to you, but I don't understand how they can be a solution to this problem, sir."
"I see your point Trunks, and I also think this is a pretty risky move to make, but we have no other alternative. Umbras cubes take far too long to be cleansed of their malicious energy and even if there were a way, there is no time to properly discover one before more casualties come to our side. That is why, for the time being, I struck a deal with the World Government from Luffy's world. I buy fruits from them and that can help us keep our numbers steady until we can get the next batch of cubes for recruits." Glover explained.
Trunks and Kakashi understood his reasoning. Like the director said, it's risky but hopefully in the long run it could prove to be beneficial. Piccolo also understood this reasoning, but that wasn't what he wanted to hear right now. "And what about Nelson?" Everyone turned to Piccolo. "I still don't understand why you sent him on the mission when he clearly wasn't ready. Everyone here saw it, so don't try to worm your way out."
Kakashi also wanted to know and so this time he stood with Piccolo. "What's going on, director?" He asked.
Director Glover stood silent for a moment before answering: "I wanted to confirm something."
Now Trunks showed some curiosity. "What do you mean, sir?"
Glover instead of answering, typed something on his keyboard desk. It brought up Zachery Nelson's picture and information back on the screen. "When Mr. Nelson first arrived on the base, the scanners scanned him and calculated its power. Trunks, you saw it too. At first, I thought, Mr. Nelson might be a rare find, like a prospector that struck cold after a dry season. But then I noticed something's off." Trunks perked up when he heard that last part.
"What did you see sir?" Trunks asked.
The director didn't answer immediately, instead he pushed another button on his desk, and the screen suddenly flared a bright red, with a big yellow 'error' pasted over Zac's picture. "Over the course of a few weeks, this basecamp continued to scan his cube. Everything was normal at first, until he started his training." This time it was Piccolo who perked up.
"What the hell are you talking about?" Piccolo didn't care if it sounded aggressive. The director didn't feel scared. In fact, all he did was raise his hand for Piccolo to calm down.
"Peace Piccolo. I am not blaming you, but since you asked, there is something about Mr. Nelson that both his trainers should know." Again, the director typed on his keyboard and Zac's picture disappeared. Next another graph popped up and on its left-hand side, there was a slow and steady rise, until they reached the middle where it suddenly exploded, rising even higher.
"You all remember how someone with a cube, gets stronger?" Glover asked.
Trunks nodded. "Yeah, when they train past their limits or when they complete missions."
"Great summary, but not quite it." The director said.
"It has to be training done on this base camp and missions that are sanctioned by you." Kakashi added.
"Correct!"
"Get to the point!" Piccolo said.
"Mr. Nelson is getting stronger without going on missions! Or even training." Glover said. The whole room went quiet. Even Piccolo went completely silent. "His power is growing. Steady but still."
The director sighed at their silence. He then pressed another button to bring up another graph below the first one. It showed time stamps on the horizontal axis, from the early morning to night. "In the beginning, his training seemed to be the only part where his development increased, but that changed. Gentlemen, according to these numbers, during Mr Nelson's training it only reached a plateau, but so far the best of his development happens when he's not training."
Everyone was confused. That does not make any sense. However, the director continued: "But now that I've seen what we're dealing with, I may be able devise a plan to-" But a certain someone didn't allow for the director to finish.
"I already have a plan. I'm going to up his training." Piccolo said.
"Hold on Piccolo, I think we should hear him out. It might be important." Kakashi said.
"There's nothing else to add! Nelson can't control his power, and he stagnates in his training. It's that simple." Piccolo countered.
"I don't think it's that simple, Piccolo. There could be something else we're missing here." Trunks added.
"No, I believe Mr. Piccolo is right." The director said, shocking both Kakashi and Trunks. Even Piccolo was caught off guard slightly. "If you two steadily overload him in his training, it might prove successful for Mr. Nelson to not only increase his power level but also learn how to draw it out without losing control. And there might be a way for that." Glover than pressed more buttons and Zac's picture and stats disappeared. In their place came a picture of a room that they were all too familiar with.
"Is it back online?" Trunks asked eagerly.
"Yes, the upgrades I had installed were successful and now it's fully functional." Glover looked pleased with himself.
"All right, if that's all then I'm done here." Piccolo said.
"Where are you going, Piccolo?" Trunks asked.
"I'm going to find Nelson and tell him what to expect in his training from now on." Piccolo said.
"Piccolo wait." Kakashi stopped him from climbing the stairs. Piccolo turned around to see what he wanted, but he only sees Kakashi coming his way. "There's something important we need to discuss."
"What?" Piccolo said.
"I think it's for the best that I take over his training from here on. You and I saw him struggling with that kunoichi after all."
"The ninja? Yeah, he barely won that fight. But he also nearly kicked the bucket, with that other Venom before he lost control." Piccolo countered.
"I know, but I believe with my training, not only will he be able to get better as an overall fighter, but he might also improve his experience in fights he's not ready for." Kakashi said, not backing down. Piccolo noticed the seriousness etched in his voice. It's something he never thought he will hear from someone that looks so laid back.
Piccolo was about to respond, but the director overheard them and decided to give his input. "That would be for the best. I believe Mr Nelson might benefit from this variety in his training and Piccolo might get a chance to take a break." That offended the Namekian.
Piccolo nearly chewed him out before he was interrupted again. "You have been hogging all the training slots, and we did promise we would train him separately. Besides it's only for a little while because I don't think I can train him full time without turning him into a ninja." Kakashi said.
"What exactly are you going to teach him that I haven't already tried?" Piccolo asked.
"You'll see." Kakashi responded. Both then stared at each other for a while, but it broke when Piccolo turned around and walked out of the office.
Piccolo may have looked like he was okay with the situation, but honestly it did bother him. Zachery Nelson isn't anyone special to him. In fact, he reminds him of Gohan back when he was a kid, down to the part where he loses control due to something about themselves that they don't know yet. But with Gohan, Piccolo simply destroyed the moon and cut off his tail. Problem solved. But Nelson is different, he doesn't have a tail, and the moon doesn't have anything to do with this.
No matter how he feels about it, Kakashi taking over might have been for the best. After all, Piccolo didn't really know where to begin to solve this specific problem. If Nelson ever loses control again what would happen? He saw how he destroyed the Venom, but would that be where it stops next time? Who's to say that he wouldn't turn on his own team and destroy them?
These questions came and went through Piccolo's mind as he looked out over the horizon. 'I have a bad feeling about this. Kakashi better have a way to deal with it, or else things might get worse.' Piccolo thought.
After that, Piccolo went back into meditation. 'For now, though, I guess I should just continue to train him and hope that everything turns out all right.' Piccolo thought as he started to float again.
(Scene Change):
In the Training Room:
"Whoa, what is this place?" Zac asked Kakashi while he looked around him in awe. The place in question could be summed up in one word: techno. Everything from the floors to the pillars had this techno style and feel to it. It made Zac feel like he was walking around in a giant boom box. The floors had black squares with blue outlines, within bigger squares with orange and turquoise outlines. The pillars look futuristic, with them completely shrouded in light blue with purple lights, circling around each individual pillar. If he would take a closer look, then those pillars look like holograms. Those were the only colourful things in this room, because everything else was just black. It didn't look like was even a sky at all.
"This is the training room. It's where every Jump Force hero comes to increase their 'power level' as the director puts it." Kakashi explained. Navigator was also there, floating behind the shinobi.
For Zac, it felt a little strange to hear Kakashi explain things to him. It's not like he doesn't like the character, but the whole situation sort of came as a surprise to him. He thought he was going to continue training with Piccolo, but when he arrived at Team Alpha's station, he was shocked to see Kakashi standing there. He always knew Kakashi was his other trainer, but still this arrangement still came out of nowhere.
"So, how will this be different from Piccolo's training?" Zac said. He's not angry because of this change, but the opposite. He's looking forward to what he might learn.
"First of all, do you know how a Jump Force hero gets stronger?" Kakashi asked. Zac looked at him in confusion. After a moment to think, Zac just shrugged. It was a good question.
"They get stronger through gaining experience or experience points." Kakashi answered. Nelson was surprised to hear that.
"Wait a minute, so I can get stronger by XP? Like I can go fight an enemy and then I can use the XP gained from that, to boost my power?" Zac asked, enthusiastically. To him, if that's how it worked, this would make it a walk in the park.
Kakashi tried to form an answer for that, but if he was being honest with himself - he didn't have the faintest idea about any of this. All he has, is an explanation from the director that doesn't completely understand. "Yes and no." Navigator answered, all to the relief of Kakashi. "A hero can only gain XP when you train in Jump Force's designated training room and when you go on missions, assigned by the Director to the Mission Counter. After the mission or training, the Umbras cube will then attain any experience you receive and automatically use it to bolster your power."
Zac could understand that. "Okay, so is that what we're doing here, today?"
"Yes." Kakashi said. "When you trained with Piccolo, you were only in Team Alpha's station. In a way, that did contribute to your growth, but not to the extent of what is considered normal for a cube user, and I believe that is one of the factors that led to your 'incident' in your last mission."
This was a weird thing to hear. When he woke up after that mission, Jason filled him in on a lot that happened. It was devastating for Zac to hear that he went insane. But he didn't know what to feel with Kakashi's explanation. That training with Piccolo, worked against him, instead of in his favour. 'Really? I can't think that could be the only reason. Right?'
"That was only one of the reasons. The next one is you were only learning to fight one kind of enemy." Kakashi said. Zac raised his brow a little. "Let me explain. Training with Piccolo only made you used to fighting one type of opponent. Last time I checked he didn't bring new people for you to fight against and that is what negatively affected your growth. That's why you struggled with that ninja. Piccolo simply didn't prepare you enough to fight against any opponent and that what we are going to fix today." Kakashi said as he turned to look at Navigator.
"Initiating training protocol." Navigator's eyes glowed bright yellow. Zac caught curious and looked around. He saw how the pillars started to flicker and even the floor had lights flickering, like they were on disco dance floor. "Integrating new training parameters. New training parameters fully integrated." The light died down and Zac looked around still to see what happened next, but nothing did.
"Ok, the lightshow stopped. So, what happens now?" Zac asked.
"Look down at your feet." Kakashi said.
He did. The square he's standing on was glowing bright green. "That's it? What's next? Am I supposed to shake my groove now?"
The reference went entirely over Kakashi's head. He only stared at Zac with a tired look in his eye. 'Great. Another joker.' He let out a sigh, but he also knows Zac is asking a genuine question. As a trainer he couldn't ignore that part. Thanks to years of training Naruto's squad, this kind of humour or questioning didn't faze him all that much.
Instead of answering though, he fished something out of his pocket. He opened his palm to show a bracelet. The bracelet was shiny like iron, but a closer look showed a more plastic look. It had a black screen that ran horizontally across the surface. "Put this on." Kakashi said.
Zac felt a little weirded out, but knowing Kakashi as well as he did, didn't make him question it. He took it and put it on. However, the second the bracelet settled on his wrist, the black line started beeping in a bright yellow colour. He was confused when he looked at it, but suddenly he felt his body become heavier. His knees buckled and his upper fell forward. He put his arm out to catch himself from a serious face plant, but he struggled. It suddenly felt like an elephant and two rhinos were standing on his back, while carrying a truck themselves.
He tried to get his feet under him, but his legs won't budge. It now took two arms to stop himself from being crushed. "Wha-What t-t-the he-ell?!" That was all Zac could get out.
"Navigator." Kakashi said, without even looking at the droid. The lenses in Navigator's eyes lit up again, and Zac felt the pressure lift. But he didn't get up just yet.
"Master, you just experienced 15x earth's gravity."
"No kidding." Zac said, finally mustering up the strength to stand up. "Can you tell me why you almost made my brain leak out my face, like a smoothie?"
"It's something I picked up from Trunks. He told me once how his father and Captain Goku would train in either an environment of increased gravity or just walk around with heavy weights on their bodies." It felt stupid for Kakashi to say that, and the face Zac made confirmed how he felt. But he once saw Trunks doing the exact training once when he thought he was alone, so he tucked it away in the back parts of his mind for a rainy day. Like today. "I also talked with Piccolo about this, and he said it works for people in their universe. I thought it was insane at first, but I can see the benefits now."
"So, is that why I was almost squashed like gum?" Zac asked, keeping his hands on his knees.
"Yes." Kakashi said, his eyeball smiling in way that send a shiver up Zac's spine.
'Damn! That's as creepy as the time he told team 7 to skip breakfast.' Zac stood up. His knees were still shaking but it wasn't that bad.
"All right, time for the next step. Check your progress level." Kakashi added, but Zac was confused.
"Huh?" The silence after, became thick. This is the first time Zac ever heard of this. Checking his progress level? 'Can I even do that? He did say I can level up like in a video game but how can I even check that?! Nobody told about any of this!' Zac felt frustrated along with embarrassment about this situation.
Kakashi felt the embarrassing silence too and it confused him. He thought Zac would know about that, but the blank look he got from him, threw that thought straight out the window. "Do you know how to check your progress?" Kakashi asked, and it broke the silence.
Zac shook his head and Kakashi sighed. "Piccolo only told me how to see check my abilities." Zac said.
"Navigator." Kakashi said. As much as he wanted to help him right now, he didn't know how to explain it.
"Master, can you bring up your ability screen? I'll show you how to see it from there." Navigator said.
Zac nodded and then waved his right hand, almost like he is washing a window. When he finished the motion, the screen popped up in front of him. The screen was see-through, with a blue hue around it. On it, two abilities are listed. One is the Rasengan, and the other is the Kamehameha wave. Seeing the second ability made Zac feel embarrassed. He's been struggling with that one for as long as he's had it and no matter how hard he tries, it still blows up in his face. Literally.
"Okay, look for the hero icon on the screen and tap it." Navigator explained and Zac started looking. It sounds familiar, what the little robot explained.
"Is it the little picture of me, in the top corner?" Zac asked.
"Yes." Navigator answered. Zac nodded again before he tapped the icon and screen changed.
Now the screen showed an enlarged picture of Zachery Nelson. The picture was inside an octagon, and the shape took up a big part of the screen. Underneath the picture, were some information and options listed.
{ZACHERY NELSON}
LEVEL - 7
GOLD - 1400
CUSTOMIZE
CONFIGURE
ITEMS
"Whoa! This is awesome. Let's see, I have a power level, customization menu, configuration menu and an item inventory. Wait, I got gold too!" Zac was really geeking out right now. He could not believe this was happening. However, before he could geek out some more, he heard a cough. He looked up to see Kakashi, who's ready to continue.
"Now that you're there, tap the 'level' icon. This is something you need to understand before we start with your training." Zac did as he was told. The second he did, his power level took the place of the picture and under it, was a health bar and a progress bar. This came to another surprise to Zac.
In the progress bar, it reached the halfway point. It also says that he needs about 5000 more XP to level up. "Wow! So, am I here to fill in what's left and then I'll level up?"
"Yes. But there's something else..." Kakashi started but Zac wasn't listening, instead he was 'yahooing' like a kid. "Yes, but..." Kakashi said, but before he could continue, he was cut off again.
"Sweet! Let's do this!" Zac started to walk away, but Kakashi wasn't done yet.
"Hold it!" Zac stopped. He looked back to see both didn't move at all. "There's still one more thing you need to know." From his tone, Zac deduced it was serious, so he walked back.
"Do you notice anything strange with your progress?" Kakashi asked. Zac thought it was weird, but he took another look. He looked at the level, but he didn't see anything strange at all. As a gamer, this is normal. So, he shook his head.
"Really?"
"No, it seems pretty normal. After all, that's how it works in some games right? When you start off at a low level, like level 1 and you complete your first mission, you get a boatload of XP. You pretty much shoot up through the levels." Zac explained, thanks to his high school years as a gaming enthusiast.
Kakashi nodded. He thought that was as good an explanation, compared to many others, however he still thought he was missing something. He then looked at Navigator again and the droid gave a mechanical nod. Zac just found this weird.
"Master. You're half right. Normally when a recruit completes their first mission, they do shoot through the ranks thanks to their 'boatload' of XP. However, it's different in your case." Zac is confused. He looked at both Navigator and Kakashi with the same look that onlookers would use when they try to decipher bad art. It just doesn't make any sense.
"What do you mean? You're not making any sense here."
"Trust me, you're not the only one lost here." Kakashi said. "All of the Umbras cube heroes on this base, grow stronger the more experience they get; however, this process is limited. It could only be achieved whenever a hero trains here or goes on sanctioned Missions by the director. However, you on the other hand, seem to be the exception to that rule."
"Ok that literally made even less sense. What are you trying to tell me here?!" Zac responded. Kakashi understood his frustration. It's something that he shares with him. But what frustrates him more, is that while as a teacher who's supposed to help his student, he didn't have a way to do that in this moment. This is uncharted territory. For him and everyone on this base, but they must take things as they come and deal with it in the same way - as it comes. That's the unwritten motto. But how could he help Nelson with this, if no-one else can?
But luckily, he and the director have a theory and that seems to be the only light they have for this unknown stretch.
"Zac, I think you should take another look at your progress." Kakashi said. It's simple. If he can't explain it, then he'll just have to show it. Hesitantly, Zac opened his tab again and went to the progress bar. It took him a second to figure out what he was looking at, but when he did, he realised he was looking at something shocking. Something that made even less sense, than anything spoken about earlier, but it also made something click inside Nelson.
"Wait a minute, this isn't right." Zac saw the gap became shorter. Not by much, but still it was concerning to look at. Now, it said it needed 4900 XP for it to level up. Then it said 4899.
Zac didn't know what to say. His mind was drawing a blank. Even if he could say anything, it would still be it didn't make any sense. How could anyone say they are slowly growing stronger without any effort or commitment? To any normal, sane individual it would be brushed off as some kind of egotistical bragging - all bark and no bite. But Zac is staring at in the face. That possibility is real, but in his mind it shouldn't be.
"What's going on? How?" In the end, that's all he could say. And the only people with him at this moment, could not give any straight answers.
"It seems Master's Umbras cube can gain XP on its own, without needing to train or go on missions." Navigator shared his observations. His voice was mechanical and void of emotion, so it couldn't share his curiosity even if he wanted to. Kakashi only stayed quiet and while that happened, Navigator continued. "So far, your cube gained 1 XP per second."
Hearing that, made Zac calm down a little. In the end, gaining one XP per second did not sound too bad. If he thought about it, it could be beneficial in the long run, but something about this whole thing still didn't feel right. 'There's still something missing here. They're acting like I'm some kind of bomb that can go off at any moment. I remember Jason told me about my Sweeper mission. How I went crazy sounded like I was in some kind of fight or flight trance, so how is this linked to that?' Zac thought.
"So far?" Zac asked, hoping that they'll answer it somehow.
The Navigator droid looked at Zac. "At this point, we don't know if this will continue to occur or even if it will stay at 1."
Zac felt his body grow cold. His chest felt heavy, and his mind was racing. No matter what he tries, he can't get himself to calm down. He doesn't have a solution for this kind of problem. The only thing he could do is ask a question. "Okay, so now what? Am I just gonna go on with my life until the next time I... lose control?" It was a strange sensation, hearing that from his own mouth, but he needed to know if he had options.
Kakashi stared at Nelson for a while, trying to formulate his next answer very carefully. "There's no easy way to deal with this, Zac. The Director tasked us to increase the difficulty of your training, in hopes that you will learn to draw out your power and control it. In the end, it all comes down to you." Kakashi thinks this will help him understand the situation. That it will help him see the light.
But Zac kept his gaze down to the floor. To him, Kakashi basically told him to figure it out on his own, but the thought losing control again made his throat dry up like the Sahara. He doesn't remember much about his last mission, the parts that came back showed only violence. How he completely obliterated his opponent made him feel sick to his stomach. "I don't want to hurt anyone. Please, help me get this under control."
Kakashi felt the sincerity and was relieved. "That's why we're here. This facility is an entire dimension on its own. Here you can go all out in training, without risking the safety of anyone else on the base. And so far, you have been gaining more power than you're able to control, at the present moment." Kakashi said and Zac felt the burden lift off his shoulders, a little.
"Okay, I trust you."
"Good." Kakashi said, with a distinctive eye smile.
"Just don't read porn, while I'm training, ok?" This froze Kakashi in his place. His eye smile gone and, in its place, is a large eye bulge. He stumbled back, like he was struck by a heavy blow and fell on all fours, with a spotlight was on him as well as droopy lines over his body.
"Is that how everyone in your world sees me?" Kakashi asked with a slight tremor in his voice.
Zac felt guilty seeing this. 'Maybe I should have kept that to myself. Sorry Kakashi.' Zac apologized.
(Scene Change):
'One more.' The director thought as he put one more piece of finished paperwork to the ever-growing pile, next to his desk. The pile has been growing steadily, which added more to his confidence and dedication. His hope growing as slowly as the pile of finished paperwork were. He could even hope to get everything done before he goes to bed. If he could this time. Who knows when he slept the last time? However, when he noticed the other pile of outstanding work, his hopes were chipped away even further.
It's all the same really. Mission details, budget applications, finance reports etc. and a whole slew of other happenings on the basecamp. They can all be marked as important by someone, who isn't doing them.
He tried to force himself to grab another report, but his body rebelled. His left arm refused to feel another sensation of another piece of unfinished work and his right, refused to even write in the same motion again. He sighed, hoping it would give him the recharge necessary to dive back in, but it didn't.
Throwing his pen across the top, he stood up, his chair rolling away up until it reached the monitor. Glover marched to his make-shift coffee stand, that had his giant metal mug and kettle, and he turned it on. Patiently as he waited for the water to boil, his thoughts travelled back to the unfinished pile, and it made his chest heavy. He was convinced that his end would come by being crushed by a mountain of paperwork. 'If there is a hell, this would be it. Abandon all hope, he who enters here! I should put that on the door.'
Just then, one of the monitors came to life. "Director Glover, sir!" The director spun around to look at the screen, like man seeing the light for first time in a long time. "This is Gita from Planet Namek, reporting in, sir!" The Namekian showed on the screen, wasn't exactly imposing by any means. From a glance, people might think they are looking at a teenager, compared others like Piccolo. They are common traits like green skin, antennae, and pointy ears; however, Gita is shorter and leaner. He's also wearing the same clothes as Piccolo.
Glover is happy for this change, to say the least. "Gita, my boy! How are you?"
Gita looked a little uncomfortable. "Uhm, fine sir." From his side, all Gita can see is a man on the verge of passing out, who is also standing in the middle of a dark room. "Do you want to hear my report?" Gita asked.
The director let his shoulder dip a little. 'Great, more work!' He sighed again, feeling a migraine grow behind his right eye. "Sure. Why not."
"Uhm, okay then. Well... we haven't gotten any sign of the enemy yet. Our patrols show no run-ins with any Venoms thus far. We also haven't had any attacks on our outposts in the last month. It almost seems like they've given up on destroying the planet." Gita said with a happy attitude, but Glover did not share his enthusiasm at all.
"No sightings at all? Have you found no trace of anything? No dens?! Nothing?!" Glover said, making Gita think. "They can't just vanish off the face of the planet, after months of countless assaults! Your planet, like Earth holds significant meaning in their path to destruction."
Gita looked like he was feeling stupid for bringing this up. Honestly, he thought this was good news. He's been fighting against the Venoms, with the help of Jump Force and his fellow Namekians on the planet for months now. Months of constant fighting made him feel hopeless, but when a time comes when the enemy doesn't attack, it made him feel happy. Maybe he was getting a break or even better, seeing the end of this conflict. But what the director said made him fall back into those trenches again. In fact, now that he thinks about it, he might know some details that could give the director something to work with.
"Uhm, sir? Now that you said that there is something that I've been meaning to tell you." This caught the director's attention. "You see, about a month ago, the Venoms acted weird."
"What do you mean?"
"Yeah, in the last few assaults, all of them stopped and retreated. They barely destroyed a few houses before they ran away all of a sudden." Gita said.
The director was puzzled. Why would they retreat? They haven't been known to do that, at all! What made them do it? "Was Vegeta there?" The director asked.
Gita nodded. "Yeah, he defeated a lot of them before they left. Could that be it?"
The director shook his head. "No. They don't fear strong opponents. As a matter of fact, they love going up against them. If they fled it couldn't be because of that." The director went silent as he thought about it. Questions came and went, but he couldn't answer any of them. This behaviour has never been seen before. Ever since the start of the war, they never fled from a fight, even when they were outnumbered or outmatched.
'Could they've been ordered to leave? If that's the case, then I fear this is far from over.' Glover thought. "Where is Vegeta now? Is he there?"
"Uhm, no. He... uh left." Gita answered reluctantly.
"What?!" Gita grabbed his ears. "Why? When?!" The director asked, a bit more forceful, but still softer than earlier.
"Well... he left yesterday, muttering something about not being some guard dog, before he took off toward the mountains." Hearing this, alarmed the director. His eyes nearly popped out of his skull as realisation.
"Bring him back! Scramble together a small group of warriors and go find him NOW!" Gita flinched again, but from the tone in the director's voice, he could tell this was urgent. He knows Vegeta is the most powerful fighter on this planet. He's the sole reason why the Venoms could never take Planet Namek and destroy it.
"Right!" Gita said, saluting before the feed went dark. Glover turned back to his desk, slamming his arms on it.
'That musclebound oaf! This could be what they want!' He knew what he needed to do. He swiped a large stack of papers off the desk and pressed a button. "Navigator!"
(Scene Change):
Back in the training room, Zac is on one knee again, barely keeping his face from crashing into the floor. Navigator activated the gravity field around Nelson again, once again it set at 15x times Earth's gravity. Zac used both of his arms to keep his upper body from being crushed and then tried to get his one leg off the floor. His aim is to at least get into a squat position or a frog pose.
But before he could make his move, the room suddenly blared an alarm that caused him to lose focus and face-plant on the floor. Luckily the gravity was turned off. He ignored his aching nose and scrambled to his feet. He saw Kakashi was looking around him too, but Navigator was gone.
"Kakashi! What's going on?" Zac asked.
"Something bad." Kakashi answered simply. But before Zac could ask more, a speaker activated, and a voice was heard.
"ALL JUMP FORCE HEROES, PLEASE REPORT TO YOUR STATIONS! THIS IS NOT A DRILL! I REPEAT, ALL JUMP FORCE HEROES, PLEASE REPORT TO YOUR DESIGNATED STATIONS AND AWAIT YOUR ORDERS!" The voice said.
Zac was confused. What did they mean by that? What is happening?!
"Zac, go to Team Beta." Kakashi said.
"But-" Before Zac could ask something else, Kakashi cut him off. "There's no time to explain! Go to your station and then you'll see what's going on."
"Ok, but how do I get out of here?!" Zac asked. Kakashi merely pointed to his bracelet.
"It has an exit button. Press the screen for 3 seconds and then say your station's name." Zac nodded.
He did exactly as he was told, holding the long, thin screen for three seconds before saying: "Beta." And just like that, Zac disappeared in a blue light.
Kakashi stared at the vast open void of the training room, while the red sirens still blared but he calmly ignored it. Instead, he was hoping that whatever this was. That whatever his new student might face, he would be ready to rise to the challenge. 'Despite being willing to fight, deep down, you're still not used to war Zac, even after your trauma. As nice as it is to see someone like you meet pain with goodness, however it still has no place on the battlefield, and I've seen many people like you break under the pressure. In the end, I guess we'll just have to witness whether you're ready or not. And I hope for your part, it's the former and not the latter.'
He reached for his communicator and held it. "Anyone copy?"
"Yeah! What do you need?" Someone responded.
"... can you get me out of here?" Kakashi asked, feeling a little bit stupid that he didn't simply leave this place with Zac.
(Scene Change):
It took a few seconds for Zac to disappear and reappear, but for him it felt like one moment. In one moment, he was staring at the infinite void of the training hall and then the next, he's standing on a beach. The second the familiar, salty air reached his nostrils, his brain felt discombobulated, but it didn't last long. All around him, he saw marines and other heroes running around, looking like they were busy with their own jobs.
He looked around him some more, like a confused kid, before he felt someone grab his shoulder and he smelled nicotine. Zac turned his head and saw Sanji. "Nice of you to drop by Zac." Sanji said.
"Oh... yeah. What's going on?" Zac asked, looking at everyone running around.
Sanji took a puff before answering. "We're being deployed on a mission, and it looks like it's going to be a crazy one."
"Why is that?"
"Look around. Everyone in Team Beta is preparing, even the marines." It makes sense. People aren't running like this, because there's a sale somewhere. They're preparing for a war.
"Come on." Zac followed Sanji through the chaos, dodging other marines, until they made it to the Thousand Sunny. However, the ship itself wasn't the destination they were headed. Instead, it was the podium next to it. The smooth stone made Zac feel like he was seeing a Greek amphitheatre, although smaller than its real-world counterpart. Behind the standing area, stood two pillars with the Straw Hat Jolly Roger hung in between them. Luffy stood before the Jolly Roger, talking with two others. Boruto Uzumaki, who was next to none other than Boa Hancock.
The Pirate Empress stood taller than Luffy. Taller than most, quite frankly. Her slender figure was dressed in a purple dress that hugged her conventionally proportioned figure tightly, and the pink, Kuja emblem was printed all over it. Her dress also has a cut up to her upper leg that would make normal men, catcall or wolf howl. Her face only enhances her beauty to a higher level. Her pale skin contrasts with her long, black hair and dark blue eyes. Her skin is smooth and without single blemish or anything else. The sun, glinting from her golden serpent earrings, only seem to make her look more majestic.
Salome, her serpent partner, was beside her as always. Her body was pure white with large pink dots running down to her tail, while her underbody was pale yellow. She's even wearing her iconic, horned skull on top of her head. It even has the blue hair!
Luffy was the first of the trio to see them getting closer. "Zac! Sanji! What took you so long?!" The rest turned to see what the captain was looking at. Boruto was happy to see someone familiar and who wasn't stuck up like a certain snake princess. Said snake princess, however, only looked at Zac with annoyance.
"Yeah, sorry, I struggled to get out of the training area." Zac said, feeling a little sheepish.
"Oh, you were training! Nice!"
"So, Luffy what's going on? Sanji told me, we're going on a big mission." Zac asked.
"Wait, we're going on a mission?! Yes! Yahoo! Alright!" Luffy was jumping up and down like a small child at his own birthday party. Zac just looked at him flatly, but honestly, he should have seen that coming.
"I stepped right into that one, didn't I?" Zac asked, rhetorically, but he still got an answer.
"Yup." Said both Sanji and Boruto. Just then, a loudspeaker came online, and cough caused everyone to stop what they were doing. Even Luffy looked like he was frozen in mid-air.
"MAY I HAVE YOU ATTENTION PLEASE!" This time it wasn't the same voice Zac heard in the training room. "I HAVE RECEIVED INFORMATION THAT A CREDIBLE THREAT WILL ATTACK PLANET NAMEK. AS SOME OF YOU MIGHT KNOW, NAMEK HAS BEEN A PIVOTOL POINT FOR OUR SIDE IN THE WORLD OF DRAGON BALL, EVER SINCE THIS WAR STARTED. THAT IS WHY, LOSING IT WILL NOT BE ACCEPTABLE! TEAM ALPHA WILL RECEIVE TEAM BETA ON THE GROUND AND HELP PREPARE FOR BATTLE. GOODLUCK TO YOU ALL."
Zac felt a lump in his throat. When he swallowed, the lump fell into the pit in his stomach. 'This is really happening! Another fight... when them.'
Zac then heard someone call him. It pulled him out of his thoughts. He scanned the crowd, the yelling got louder until it came from behind him. "Hey, buddy!" He felt a hand on his shoulder and when he turned to see Jason behind him, he was shocked.
"Jason? What are you doing here?" Zac asked.
"I'm going off to war man. Here to serve and protect." Jason saluted. Zac looked at him, confused, but that wasn't what held most of his attention. What did, was the fact that Jason was saluting with a second arm. The one he lost.
"Dude... your arm, it's-" Zac couldn't finish. He couldn't believe it.
"I know right. But I gotta go. It's a funny story, and I'll tell you about it after this. They told me to head to the portal so long." Jason spoke to fast, Zac had difficulty keeping up and before he knew it, he was already moving with the others to somewhere else.
"Jason, wait!" Zac yelled, but Jason had already disappeared with the crowd. He wanted to go after him, but Sanji stopped him.
"Where are you going?"
"My friend. He's going that way." Zac pointed in the general direction of Jason's last location.
"Not yet. First, you're going that way." Sanji nodded toward the mission desk, located next to the statue. Zac was confused, but he did that, nonetheless. He got behind one of the five lines, standing in front the long desk, but he didn't have to wait long. They're moving incredibly fast.
Every second, he took a step forward and soon enough, Zac could see why. Every person in front of him only said their name before disappearing in a blue light. Before he could comprehend, Zac found himself before the receptionist. She wore professional attire, clad in blue in black, with a nametag on her chest. "Name." She spoke.
"Uhh... Zachery Nelson." The receptionist or Maggie, as her nametag reads, typed at a lightning speed.
"Alright, go with Captain Luffy and head out. Next!" She said nonchalantly. Zac was confused still, but once more he walked back to where he was. 'That was a waste of time.' Zac thought.
When he was back with the group, he asked Sanji: "What was that all about?"
Sanji took a puff before he answered. "Every Beta member, who completed one mission, has to get their orders from the front desk."
Zac thought that made sense. But something didn't add up. "But where are those guys going?" Zac asked, pointing to the group walking away from the desk. Instead, all of them were walking toward a tunnel on the other side of the beach. Zac knew where that tunnel led. This tunnel, the same as any other, leads to the lower levels of the base. Zac saw Jason disappearing into the crowd, going into that tunnel. But why?
Sanji looked at where Zac was pointing. "I don't know much, but that's where all the new recruits go."
"But that's me too. So, why did the receptionist tell me to go with Luffy?" Zac asked.
"Maybe, it's because you already completed a mission." Boruto chimed in. "Who knows, maybe the director thinks you can handle more." Zac thought about that, and it made sense.
"But what does it mean for those guys?" Zac pointed back to the crowd. However, everyone just shrugged, which irritated Nelson, because where is Jason going then?
Zac's thoughts were interrupted when a condescending sigh from the snake princess. "Are you done? We have a battle to prepare for and you're standing around like fools. Honestly, if that's how it is, then the rest of the men should just stay on base while only Luffy and I storm those savages! Hmph!" Zac hid the twitch that nearly popped under his left eye.
"Nice to meet you too, Hancock." Zac muttered under his breath. She was glaring at Zac for a moment, about to respond, when Sanji interrupted.
"Oh, my sweet Hancock! You care about me that much?! I knew this was meant to be!" He was singing and doing his noodle dance, with hearts in his eyes and all around him, but she ignored him flat.
Boruto, just sighed and muttered: "So not cool."
Just then, Luffy let out a loud laugh that caught everyone's attention in the immediate vicinity. "Alright! What are we waiting for?! Let's go!" Then he sped off in the direction of the group they were talking about, earlier.
"Luffy, where are you going?!" Sanji ran after him.
"Oh Luffy!" Hancock said all lovey dovey, while running with him.
Zac and Boruto remained behind for a while, until Zac shrugged. "Ok, time to go." He said before he broke off into a sprint.
"Hey Zac, wait for me?!" Boruto raced to join them. The whole group crossed the whole beach, running past all the marines, while they scrambled about. Zac did his best to not bump into anyone. He dodged everyone with smooth precision.
But his captain on the other hand, had the same kind of precision as a bull in a China shop. Instead of doing his part, all the marines had to try their best to dodge Luffy, but in the end it caused several men, carrying heavy supplies to fall over.
All of them screamed: "Watch it!"
Then when they saw Hancock, racing to stay close, they all quickly changed their tunes. Each sported heart eyes like Sanji, but unlike him, the marines turned to stone. Each of their statues were frozen in a love-sick pose. When one of the receptionists saw this, she screamed: "DAMNIT HANCOCK!"
But she didn't care.
Soon enough, the whole group reached the portal, after running down a long corridor and descending a few flights of stairs to enter the ground floor of the base. All around them, standing in neat rows were many marine officers and jump force heroes. The marines outnumbered the heroes, with each row having only one or three. Zac didn't stick with Luffy this time. Where he stood still, Zac wondered off among the rows.
He walked through the rows, looking only for someone to stand out from the many rows of officers. However, the few, funny-looking heroes he met, was not who he was looking for.
Zac felt like he couldn't breathe, but he continued to look. He passed another row on the furthest part, near the wall on the right, before he stopped next to a marine. "Excuse me?"
"Hm?" The officer turned to him.
"Did you a guy in a green jacket come through here?" The marine officer looked at Zac with a small tinge of irritation, but he recognized him. He's the guy who liked to help them out around the station. His question though, is hard to answer, because he's a lot of people with colourful clothes and accessories, so one guy in a green jacket is not going to stand out to him anymore.
"Uhm, no… he's probably in the group that went on ahead."
What the marine said made the blood his veins, turn to ice. He looked toward the portal and felt more determined to put a stop to the Venoms. His eyes already seeing them and his ears hearing them cackle, but he's not going to hesitate this time. This time, he won't lose control. That he swears!
(Scene Change): With Jason
"Holy shit!"
That was the first thing, he said when stepped through the portal and was met with an emerald sky. It felt strange to see. He could feel it in his gut. The clouds looked like Earth's but with the strange jade heavens shining through, it made him feel uncomfortable.
He heard grass crunch beneath him, and when he looked down, he saw grass wasn't green, instead it was a cobalt blue. They bend with the breeze and Jason's lungs felt oddly refreshed.
As he moved with the group, his eyes saw a large body of water, that from a distance looked comparable to an Earth Lake. However, when he got closer and the sheen moved like a sheet off the surface, he could see the jade sky reflecting on it.
"Wow… it looks like Earth got dunked in a giant slushie." He muttered.
But he didn't notice the group stopping. He bumped into the back of someone small, but muscular and stumbled back, landing on his behind. "Ow, shit! Watch it, you jerk!" He said to the person, but his brain stopped working suddenly. His eyes widened and his breath was caught in his throat.
The very person he walked into, didn't look like a jerk. The person wasn't even an 'he'. She was smaller than Jason, round about 160 cm tall with golden hair, tied in a ponytail. Her, jean-style jacket, has a bright red logo with two large, R letters. The sleeves are different from the rest of the denim vest, instead it is puffy, with black and white stripes. Following the trend, her denim pants matched the vest, and her feet are covered with brown leather boots.
She didn't turn around fully, instead she merely gave a side-glance backward. Her one eye glanced over Jason, without any sympathy. "If you didn't see me stop, then it's your own fault, dumbass." The cold in her voice, knocked Jason out of whatever moment he was having.
He did an initial scan of found nothing hurt. Then he stood up, muttering to himself: 'Says the dumbass who stopped without warning.' She kept her gaze in front, not giving any indication that she heard it.
Jason then felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned and saw a marine officer with smirk on his face. "Hey, nice air bag." The marine said, and everyone around him laughed. It caused Jason to look at him like he was a total moron. But his curiosity brought his gaze down toward his butt, and there it is! When he fell earlier, his Devil Fruit kicked in and created a soft, gel cushion for his butt.
'Oh, for f**k sakes!' Jason thought. When he moved, it jiggled, and then everyone else laughed.
Jason gritted his teeth in embarrassment, but he saw an opportunity to turn the tables when he noticed the marine kept looking at his cushion. "Hey buddy, staring won't get you to grow your own pair." Then the cushion disappeared.
"Wai-wha- HEY!" The marine stuttered, trying to deflect but it was too late. The other marines started laughing at him now. Jason winked before turning his back to the marine's face, burning face.
The girl on the other hand, ignored the commotion for the most part, only muttering 'idiots' under her breath.
"ALRIGHT LISTEN UP!"
Suddenly a booming voice got everyone's attention. Jason turned to see a tall man, in front of them. Unlike, the rest of the heroes in Team Beta, the guy only wore one kind of outfit. It was the kind that reminded Jason of the few Dragon Ball shows he watches on the weekends, before he switched the next channel.
"FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO DON'T KNOW, MY NAME IS FRED CORMACK, BUT FOR YOU TEAM BETA CLOWNS, IT'S COMMANDER OR SIR. STARTING NOW, EVERY SINGLE MEMBER OF YOUR BEACH CLUB WILL BE DIVIDED INTO DIFFERENT GROUPS, AND YOU GUYS PULLED THE SHORT STRAW, BECAUSE NOW YOU'RE WITH ME." Fred said, his voice loud enough to reach the very back of the group. Most of the heroes grumbled and all the marines gave him silent, death glares, but despite it, Freddy didn't look scared.
Jason listened his to speech and thought out loud: "What an asshole." It was a near whisper, only meant for himself, but the girl in front of him heard it. She stayed silent, but she didn't disagree.
"TEAM ALPHA'S OUTPOST IS IN THE NAMEKIAN TOWN. OUR JOB IS TO DEFEND OUR POSITION FROM ANY VENOM STRAGGLERS, WHO MANAGE TO SIDE-STEP OUR MAIN ASSAULT TEAM. YOU WILL FOLLOW MY ORDERS, AND WHEN YOU DO, THEN MAYBE ALL OF YOU WILL GET BACK IN TIME FOR YOUR VOLLEYBALL GAME." The tone of Fred's voice was deliberately condescending, so much so that everyone silently shimmered with anger.
Both Jason and the girl shared the same thought – beating the crap out of him would be both deeply satisfying and terribly consequential. However, if he continued, they would risk it.
For a moment, Jason ignored Fred's so-called speech and took in the sight of his gloved 'hand'. He couldn't feel anything. Anything below his elbow, there was nothing. No tingle, no feeling of fabric or the feeling of fingers balling into a fist. It imitated a real hand. Following orders from his brain, like general movement, but the lack of touch receptors made the experience feel alien.
But it's not like it's without it's uses. Once, when he was alone, Jason looked at his hand, taking in the bright purple colour and shiny specs of gold and white, when he wondered what else he could do with it. The memory made him more excited in this moment. He remembers what Zac told him once, back when the world made sense. About the different abilities, devil fruits can give you in One Piece. It gives him a surge of ideas about the powers and how to use them.
"I'm not on my bed anymore. Today, I'm fighting and I'm gonna have his back." Jason promised. His gloved hand, clenched with a squishy sound.
TO BE CONTINUED.